hellcatfandomcom-20200214-history
Hellcat Squadran: Into Darkness
This is a tandem story created by both ODST Grevious and Shadow32951. Chapter 1: Ambush and Assemblence The snow crunched under their boots as they walked through the frozen forest, the chilled wind whisling through the air. They walked on, concentrating on their surroundings, searching for the smallest disturbance. As they moved, the lead man kneeled down, picking up a broken branch out of the snow. He examined the foliage for any signs of their target, but was quickly interrupted. He jolted to the side and aimed his rifle towards another group of trees to the left, the other members of his following squad doing the same. They watched as nothing moved, eventually calming down. The man got up, dusting the snow off of his armored knees before another figure walked over to him. "General Ferran, there have been no signs of unusual activity. I suggest we begin to move back to base before night falls." Ethan put his hand on his helmet and shook his head in disappointment. "I suppose you're right Lieutenant. Prepare to move out," Ethan answered, letting a sigh escape his mouth afterwards. His lieutenant nodded and prepared to turn away when they both heard a low whistling sound. As soon as they heard the sound, it was accomponied by a thud and blood spewing from the soldier's right abdomen. Ethan listened as more whistling sounds filled the air, quickly joined by his own troops' weapons sending their responses. He felt an impact on his lower back that delivered a sharp pain along with it. As he dropped to his knees, he watched as fire rose up in the winterized forest around him. The flames illuminated his visor, perfectly reflecting off of it the image infront of him; purple-tinted shots raining down from seemingly nowhere onto his squad, shortening their once hopeful lives. Ethan felt as his breathing became shorter and quicker, his vision blurring as smoke filled the air and blood stained the snow. He looked over to his left, eyeing the tree line that had caught his attention before. He saw as a small rabbit poked it's head out of it's hole, quickly diving back in due to the chaos surrounding it's home. Ethan's vison became more blurry and dark. His gaze settled on the orange-blue sky for one last time before falling onto his side, the distant sound of engines barely reaching his ears. ____________________________________________________________________________________ The landing pads were chaotic, medical dropships coming in from their space-bourne carriers. Aurora paced back and forth impatiently, praying for the last ones to land. The strike that had gotten to her father was not an isolated incident; similar ones occured all over the planet he was on at the time, all staggeringly similar. Patrols and squads would be ambushed out of nowhere, then they would disappear without a trace, leaving only the casualties they inflicted behind, her father being one of them. Aurora stopped for a second, looking over at her twin brother, Caden, slowly rocking back and forth on a supply crate. She shielded her eyes, the sun reflecting off of his new armor. The light made him look angelic, she had to admit. Ironic for someone with such a checkered past. She watched as he kept rocking, looking into the visor of his helmet held between his hands. She shook off her stare and began to pace again, but her endevour was immedietly cut short. "Commander Bendak, your father is about to land. Pad three, ma'am." Aurora hesitated before realizing what was just said. She was still getting used to the last name Bendak, and only some people used it with her. The young, scrawny dock worker stood there, confused and visibly worried of what her reaction will bring. Aurora sighed. "Thank you. That is all I need," Aurora said, nodding to the worker. He saluted her and walked off into the ever growing ruckus around them. She turned around to alert her brother, but was met with his figure standing right behind her shoulder. His presence shocked her, allowing the two to stand in silence for a moment before Caden broke it. "Well, we going?" Caden asked. Even though he has been gone from a large part of her life, she could still tell his emotions perfectly. His calm, confident persona was only masking the anxious worry on the inside. Aurora nodded in compliance, and the pair turned and walked towards one of the many landing zones on the base. They watched as a small dropship descended towards the pad, it's white and red medical paint job making it highly visible in the sky, now turning gray as a storm neared. As the ship landed, the siblings stood at the ship's enterance, waiting for the passengers to disembark. Only a few people got off. At the end of the line, a medical assistant pushed a hovercart, a man laying on it under a mound of covers. Caden and Aurora watched as it neared, seeing their father laying on the cart. "Daddy? Daddy, are you ok?" Aurora asked, grabbing Ethan's hand as he weakly turned his head to her. "Fine, darling. I'll live. No need to worry about your old man," Ethan said, his voice quiet and soft. Aurora kept her eyes glued on his as she ran her free hand through his now gray hair. Their connection was soon broken, however, when he turned to view his son. "Caden...I have something important to tell you..." Ethan began, but trailed off, his strength fading. "Et'buir, relax. You can tell me when you get rested up." Even in his near crippled state, Ethan was suprised by his son's use of the Mandalorian language. Unlike him and his many siblings, the twins never caught on as much as he would have liked. "No...time. I must tell you now," Ethan barely managed to speak, coughing as he inhaled the blistering cold winter air. He was beginning to despise cold places. "Yes? What is it?" Caden asked, resting his hand on his father's arm in a vain attempt to ease the endevour he was enduring. "They're real...the Stalkers are alive..." Ethan said, his tone lowering as he went. As he finished, his eyes closed and his head leaned back, the heart monitor he was hooked up to beginning to flare up with alarming, distressing sounds. Four Hours Later Aurora walked out of the hospital, deeply confused. What her father had said, about these 'stalkers', didn't sit right with her. It seemed like Caden knew what he was talking about, but she had never even heard them mentioned before. And Caden, he had disappeared after only twenty minutes in the hospital. The only comfort she had was knowing that Ethan was in a stable condition. Aurora began to just wander around the base aimlessly, staring at the ground infront of her as she walked. After a long while, she finnally felt a presence near her. Looking up, she realized she was back at the landing area. It was nearly deserted, a drastic change to how it had been only a short while before.She scanned the area quickly, spotting Caden on the far side near a pile of crates. She began making her way over to him. "Caden? What are you doing here?" Aurora asked her brother as she got close enough. He turned around, sticking two kukris into their sheathes in his sides and walking over to another crate. "Prepping supplies," Caden responded, cold and deadpan. Rorii walked over and looked into one of the crates. It was filled completely with what looked like tank or artillery shells. She ran her hand over one and looked back at Caden. "Caden, what are you...?" "They nearly killed Et'buir, Rorii. I'm not letting them get away with that," Caden answered, sliding a small, five inch long rocket into the launcher built into his one gauntlet. "Wait, what? You're seriously going after them? They took out that entire garrison with ease, and I've never even heard of them before." Aurora's words went unnoticed, Caden allowing them to drift away into the wind. "When were you going to tell me this, Caden?" "I wasn't." "What? Dammit kid, why the hell not? Caden, stop ignoring me and listen!" Aurora's voice began to raise as she grabbed Caden's shoulder and turned him around so that they could look each other in the eye. Even though Aurora wasn't a frail, small woman, Caden still towered over her. He easily had six inxhes on her, and was definetly bigger. However, the tone and sternness in Rorii's voice would have shown the exact opposite. "Why do you always think you have to go off and save the world alone?" Rorii looked Caden straight in the eye, seeing his soft soul hidden under his rough exterior. She heard the slightest exhale from him right before he spoke. "We leave at nine tomorrow morning. Be ready to go, or I will leave without you." Aurroa nodded and took a step back as rain started to lightly drop from the sky. Caden's helmet began to materialize from the back of his armor's neck, covering his head from the rain. Aurora flipped her hood up and walked off the landing pad, heading for home. Chapter 2: First Shots of a War Aurora and Loran walked up to the landing area, the sun barely peaking through the clouds. They spotted Ziva on one of the pads, a shuttle already waiting. "Sorry we're late," Aurora apologized. Ziva simply waved it off. "No big deal. C'mon, Caden is already in orbit on the Jericho," Ziva said, hurrying the pair onto the shuttle. Once on, the ship took off and raced into orbit, docking with the destroyer within minutes. Once they landed, they were met by a soldier clad in black armor. Ziva still got a small shiver to run up her spine when she saw them, even after working with them for a while. The soldier quickly brought them up to the bridge of the ship, where they saw Caden, Katlyn, and Wolf all surrounding a holomap projector. Ziva walked up behind Caden and draped her arm around him as Loran and Aurora took a spot opposite of them. "Thanks for not leaving without us," Loran said to Caden. "Not a problem. I can't go off and try to save the world alone, now can I?" Caden said with a chuckle. urora returned a smile and began looking at the holomap. "So, is everyone here?" Aurora asked. "Everyone who's going to be," Katlyn responded. "We will be without Russel for a while. He's out on a scouting mission, so we'll need to rendevous with him in a couple of weeks." "He's not the only one I plan to pick up. But that's not important at the moment. Get yourselves settled in and meet me back up here in three hours, alright?" Caden explained. The others nodded and began to disperse. "Jester, set a course and get us out of here." "Aye aye, Commander," Wes, otherwise known as 'Jester', called over the intercom. And with that, the Jericho ''entered hyperspace, leaving the system. ''Three Hours Later Loran returned to the bridge to find that everyone was already there. "Sorry I'm late." He told the group. "It's fine. Now, let's get started." Caden said, and Loran moved to stand next to Aurora, waiting for Caden to begin. "Alright, I'll make this quick. An alien race known as the Stalkers laid waste to a Coalition planet a couple of days ago. I am guessing that many of you have never heard of them. Don't worry, I don't expect you to. Only some people have ever heard of them, and most believe them to be myths." Caden said. "What are they, exactly?" Ziva asked. "They might as well be nightmares. From the stories I've heard, they appear to be heartless warriors. They simply search for new attributes and even abilities that will strengthen themselves. They aren't even from our galaxy." Came his reply. "Would they Intergalactic Republic know anything about them?" Loran asked. "We think so, we're working on finding that out." Caden said. Loran nodded and looked around at the group, assessing their odds. To him, they weren't any worse than normal. "So, what's our first move?" He asked. "Suggestion." Came Wolf's voice. "Visiting the attack site may be the best choice. It is the only lead." "We'll have to be careful, their could be a lingering force." Loran pointed out. "Of course. We'll also need to bolster our own group. I know of three people who would make great additions." Caden said. "Well, we all know who one of them is..." Ziva said in an aside. Caden simply gave her a look, to which she raised her hands in surrender, but said nothing. "Er, who are they?" Loran said, clearly trying to get past the awkward couple moment. "Sola, Dinaya, and Clara. They're three of the best out there, and I trust them." Caden said. "Alright, we'll set a course for the attack site and go from there. Dismissed." Caden told them. "Go on without me, I'll catch up." Loran said quietly to Aurora, who nodded. "Okay sweetie, see you in a bit." She said and left. Loran waited for Ziva to leave before coming up beside Caden. "How's your dad doing?" He asked cautiously. "He's struggling, but he'll survive. Hopefully he'll be back in time to see us get back at those freaks." Caden replied. "What about your mom?" Loran asked. "After a certain point, you start getting used to the ones you love getting hurt. This one took a toll on her, but she's holding up better than most would." Caden explained, and Loran nodded. "True. Also, everything ok with...?" He trailed off, tilting his head towards the door Ziva left through. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Everything's normal. She just gets...jealous a bit when the topic of Clara comes up." Caden explained. "Just checking. Can't have more mexican music playing through your ship's speakers or something." Loran joked. "That would be hell." Caden said and chuckled. "Good thing she doesn't have clearance for that." "Really think that'd stop her?" Loran pointed out. "It'd be a start." "Good point. Anyway, if I'm not with Rorii, I'll be in your shuttle bay, if you need me." Loran said. "Alright, let me know if any of the pilots down there give you any trouble." "Don't worry. Being your brother in law should keep em off me." Loran told him. "You'd be surprised." "Guess we'll find out. See you later." Loran said. "Seeya." Caden replied and Loran and took the elevator down to the shuttle bay. ---- The shuttle flew down to the attack site and dropped off Caden and Wolf first before dropping Ziva and Aurora off at another location in the chaos. The shuttle dropped Loran and Katlyn at the last point, the northernmost point of the large attack site. They surveyed the area and Loran spotted a group of bodies several meters away. "Bodies. Ours, by the looks of it." He said, taking his saber-pike off his back. "Must've been left behind during the raid. No time to reclaim all of the dead." Katlyn replied, slowly moving forward, scanning the area with her rifle. Loran approached the bodies slowly. "Stripped of most equipment, they're basically icicles." He said, kneeling down to examine the corpses. "Shame. Are there tags, at least?" She asked. Loran checked, then sighed. "No. Took those too." He said, shaking his head. "Who the hell takes a soldier's tags? That's just flat out disrespectful..." Katlyn said. Loran nodded in agreement. "Guess they really are heartless." He sighed. "Come on, we'll need to keep moving if the bodies don't give us any intel." Katlyn told him, and they continued South, not finding anything. Fifteen minutes in, they came across another body. "Another one." Katlyn said. Loran was about to agree, when he sensed the force flow through the body. "No...I can still sense him...he's alive!" Loran said and ran over. He flipped the man over and saw that he was bleeding profusely from a chest wound. "What? It's been days, how is he alive?" Katlyn said, catching up. She knelt down and began to give the man morphine. "Must have hidden to survive the attack, but something got him recently, this is a fresh wound." Loran said. "That means we're not alone out here." Katlyn said and stood up, rifle at eye level, scanning the treeline. Loran opened a comm to the rest of the crew. "Everyone, be advised, hostiles are probably still in the area. We have a survivor and need to evac him fast." He told everyone. "Copy. Dropship will be en route ASAP. Keep on your toes people." Caden's reply came. Loran began trying to force-heal the soldier, but it was slow work, as he had never been very good at it. As he was working, a twig snapped about twenty meters from them. Katlyn turned to aim, falling to one knee. A second crack sounded from someplace else, and Katlyn began switching her aim between the two spots. "You see anything?" She asked. "No...I don't sense anything, either..." Loran said, which worried him. "This can't be good. I'm not getting anything on my scanners, either." Katlyn said. Loran turned his gaze back to the soldier, who, from what Loran could tell, appeared to have died of hypothermia. "Shit...survivor is KIA." Loran said. "I may not want to cancel that evac, though." Katlyn said. Loran couldn't help but agree. He looked around, seeing nothing but forestry and shrubbery, and then two blue lights that he knew for a fact did not belong to anyone in their team. In fact, the lights looked like eyes. "Katlyn, that thing have automatic functions?" He asked her. "That, and an underbarrel shotgun." "Set to automatic. On your five, definite hostile." "Got'cha." She said, turned, aimed, and fired a short burst. A large, grey creature with glowing blue eyes and blue cannons on its arms jumped out of the bush and fired twice. Loran drew his pike and deflected both blasts as the creature continued its charge. "Take it down!" She cried, opening fire and then putting a shotgun blast in the creature as it grew near. "Duck!" Loran yelled as it grew closer. Katlyn did so and Loran spun, holding his pike at its full length while spinning. The white blade slashed through the creature's throat, half-severing its head and causing it to hit the ground. "Holy shit, that thing took some hits." Katlyn said, panting. Loran opened another comm to the group. "Guys, Stalker presence confirmed, I think. Be warned, they're tough sons of bitches, but lightsabers seem to work." He warned the group. "We hear you, thanks for the update. Stay safe out there." Aurora's voice answered. "You too. Aim for the neck, it worked for us." He said. "Alright, thanks." She replied and the channel closed. Several hours passed with absolutely no activity whatsoever. Eventually, their comm channel opened and Caden's voice could be heard. "Kat, if you can, salvage that body and bring it to the rendevous. Might be able to recover something useful from it." "We calling it a day?" Loran asked. "Might as well. This place is a ghost town, except for that one bastard." Kat said. They're shuttle arrived for them and took them back to the Jericho. They were the last team to return, and both Loran and Kat dragged the very heavy Stalker body off of the shuttle for everyone to see. "Ew. The hell is this thing?" Aurora asked. "Stalker. We think." Loran said tiredly. "Yeah, that's one of them. Bigger than I thought." Caden said, looking at the body. "Heavier, too." Loran added. "We should get this thing to lab before it starts to stink. Maybe there's something useful in this pile of garbage." Caden said. Loran gave a look to a couple of ship crewman, and they ran over to carry it to the lab. "So, I heard it was a tough S.O.B." "Shotgun blast and how many rounds of assault rifle fire didn't do a thing." Loran answered. "That could be problematic." Aurora said. "Yeah...so...next move?" Loran asked. "We figure out a better way to kill these things. If a lightsaber is the best way, then it is even more important that we get the other three." Caden said. Loran hoped to god that Caden wouldn't ask him to examine the body, as sciences of most kinds were not his strong suit. It must have shown on his face, as Caden noticed. "Don't worry kid, you just need to kill them. Someone else will examine the body." Loran sighed with relief. Ziva slipped up beside him and wrapped an arm around Caden's waist. "We should probably rest up for whatever tomorrow brings about, eh?" She suggested. "Yeah. Everyone, enjoy your rest, because I have a feeling we won't get much later." He said. Ziva looked at Wolf. "Stay." She told him and dragged Caden away. "I assume intimate relations are about to take place. I shall take my place in the lab for the time being." Wolf said. "Good boy." Loran told the hound. Wolf gave him a long stare before walking off. "I guess he isn't a fan of that?" Loran asked. "Not at all." Katlyn told him. "Nice work today." He told her. "Not sure how failing to kill a single enemy is nice work, but thank you." She replied. "Hey, someone had to watch my back. This one can't do it all the time." Loran replied, putting an arm around Aurora. "Perhaps we can make it a group of three next time." Katlyn suggested. "Sounds good. See you tomorrow." Loran said as Katlyn began to make her way out. "So. It seems I am married to the only living person to kill a Stalker. Perhaps we should celebrate?" Aurora suggested. "Shall we?" "Of course." She said and the two made their way to their quarters on the ship. It was going to be the last peaceful night for quite a while. Chapter 3: Queens of the Knight Caden walked through the halls of the Jericho. ''He listened as Wolf's metal claws tapped against the floor beside him. Ahead of him was the enterance to the science lab, where the body of the only known Stalker lay on an examining table. As he entered, his nose filled with both the smell of both disinfectant and and rotting flesh. As it was, he saw a pair of doctors in one corner surrounding various data files, while a large vat on the other side of the room contained the floating carcass. The opening door alerted both doctors, with one of them dragging himself away from the data to salute and address his captain. "Sir, we believe we have fully analyzed the Stalker and it's properties. You may want to have a look at it." The doctor pulled a surgical mask down from over his face as he walked with Caden over to the Stalker. "So, what did you find about them, doctor?" "I understand that you will only be interested in the features affecting combat abilities, so I will skip over some of the items. They have very simple brains, and it looks like they are controlled by a type of hive mind. Much like Flood or Zerg actually. Their carapace is extremely dense, which explains why Lieutenant Dvorakin's attacks were less than effective," the doctor continuously pointed to areas of the creature as he explained. "Alright, but what about weaknesses? What can we do to kill them?" "Global Themonuclear War is an effective option." Wolf's sadistic humor fell on deaf ears. "Well sir, when studying this creature, we learned that they are very susceptive to heat. That is why the lightsaber wound was so fatal, the heat just cut straight through it's armor. Once it got to the tissue underneathe, it was all over. This might explain why they targeted such a frozen, desolate world." "So we just need to turn up the thermostat and they'll go running? Doesn't seem to hard." "In theory, yes. But during experiments, we did find something else. Even while deceased, it mutated very quickly. After only a few minutes, it adapted. Heat wasn't useful anymore. And if this happens to a living one, I believe the entire Hive would adapt." "So if they just adapt to rid themselves of weaknesses, how do we kill them?" Caden asked, becoming more annoyed with both the alien and his own scientist. "Suggestion: A blitz may become effective. Deliver a fatal attack to the Hive before adaptation occurs," Wolf's mechanical voice came from across the room, where he was pacing back and forth. "Excuse me sir, but may you keep that peice of scrap metal from interrupting-" "Watch your tongue, soldier. Is he right?" Caden asked, controlling his anger over the insult to his friend. "Theorectically... But we don't know how fast the adaptaition would spread." "Good enough for me. Come Wolf," Caden said as he began leaving the room. Once he and Wolf were outside, he looked down at his companion. "I do believe I know what to do now. Wolf, do you know what's both deadly and can heat up in the blink of an eye?" "Females." "Good job, Wolf," Caden said with a smirk as he began walking again. "Also: lightsabers, napalm, themonuclear warheads..." Wolf began to list as he began walking behind Caden, who gave a small chuckle at the list. ____________________________________________________________________________________ The ''Jericho ''slowly exited hyperspace, letting the stars come back to their natural shape. As they did, so did the shape of a gigantic ship, dwarfing that of the ''Jericho. They began to near the ship, known as the HCS Spartacus, as the majority of the team assembled on the bridge with Caden. "How the hell did you find it?" Loran asked, staring at the size of the ship. "Let's just say a ship that big isn't very stealthy, especially out her alone," Caden responded. "Sola's gonna be pissed when she hears that," Ziva commented, standing next to Caden as they neared the Spartacus. "Well, let's just try to not piss her off until after we get her on our side, shall we?" Aurora said. "Agreed." "It's settled, be nice to the city-sized ship full of Force users. Jester, bring us in," Caden commanded. They watched at the Jericho ''flew dangerously close to the ''Spartacus' bridge before veering off to a docking station. As they prepared to dock, the group moved towards the exit ramp. Soon, it opened, allowing the artificial light from the Spartacus' dock to fill the area. Even before it was fully open, Wolf leaped onto the deck, stalking around for a moment before being deadset on the welcoming party. As they exited, they saw row upon row of armored Jedi, each with an interlocking shield and lightsaber ready, similar to a phalanx of ancient Greece. The group froze and looked at the small army, and than at Wolf as his shoulder plates opened wide, revealing multiple machine guns ready to fire. Caden walked up to wolf and rested a hand on his head. "Easy now. We're not here to fight just yet. The time will come," Caden said, calming Wolf down enough to disarm his weapons. As they did, Caden's helmet slid off his head, folding back into small plates on the back of his armor. He heard a loud sigh come from the rear of the crowd, then watched as the Jedi lowered their lightsabers and parted. From between the lines walked their leader, Sola, shaking her head in disappointment. "Our stealth that bad, eh?" she asked as she shook hands with Caden. He simply nodded in response, but Wolf chose the more audible approach. "It is in desperate need of overhaul," he said, scanning the room once more. Sola looked down on him, both curious and annoyed. "Sit." The group waited for a moment as Wolf looked back up at her, and then at Caden. "Permission to terminate?" "Negative, Wolf. At ease." With this, Wolf walked away, beginning to patrol the docking bay. "Sola, we desperately need to talk with you." "Come, let's go get Dinaya," Sola said, and the group began to walk through the ship. As they stepped off an elevator, they saw Dinaya dueling a tallish man weilding both a large shield and a purple lightsaber. "Hello Dina," Aurora said enthusiastically, happy to see her old friend once again. Dinaya's face filled with suprise as she turned and saw the group. She quickly bested the man before sprinting over to them, panting for breath. "Hey there. Who's trying to kill everyone now?" she asked, straight to the point. "What, we can't just drop in and say hey? Aurora asked. Dinaya looked at Sola, then they both stared at Aurora. "Apparently not, okay." "They learned quick. Stalkers, that's what," Caden answered. A look of confusion ran across Dinaya's face, obviously leaving her clueless. Sola, however, winced at the name. "Alright. Caden, come with me for a moment," Sola said, walking away from the group. Caden motioned for the others to stay where they were and followed close behind Sola. Once they were out of earshot, she began. "Yes?" Caden asked quickly. Sola sighed and waited for a moment before responding. A tone of shame draped her voice. "Listen, we can help, but we'll need something in return this time," Sola stated. A small amount of anger washed over Caden. "We're trying to save the freakin galaxy and you're asking for favors? What type of place is this?" Caden was forced to stop himself before going off. He took a breath and continued. "Sorry, sorry. What is it?" "I need your help, their help, saving the galaxy later on. I assume you remember Neil? He single handedly wiped out the Shade Sith. Made Clara, Kensa, and Nymeria look like ragdolls." "What? How?" Caden exclaimed, genuinely amazed. "He walked on base and building began to be blown to pieces. Nymeria and Clara barely escaped, and now Nymeria has been missing since," Sola explained, feeling as Caden's emotions ranged from anger to worry. "Is Clara...is she alright?" he asked, knowing Ziva was clear of earshot. "Yeah. I'm guessing you want her help, too. Lucky for you, I'm the one person in the universe who knows exactly where she is." "Perfect. Just tell me when you're ready to go after Neil, and I'll make sure we're ready to return the favor." "It'll be a few months," Sola said. She called over the man Dinaya was sparring with, known as Vitor. "Dinaya and I are out on assignment, get the Spartacus somewhere we can't find it, and we undoubtedly will later." Vitor nods to her and left. "Alright, let's go," Sola said, starting the walk back. "Good." "Oh, I'll need to meet your pilot, show him where to go," Sola said as they got back. "As long as you don't tell him how to do his job, that won't be a problem," Caden answered. "No problem. Dinaya, we're going on a trip!" "Fina-fucking-ly, a change in scenery, christ above," Dinaya said, overjoyed. "Well, that was easier than expected," Caden said as they entered the elevator to get back to the Jericho. "Waituntil we get to see Clara, that is when things get interesting," Sola added. Caden looked at her curiously. "Care to explain?" "She's living in a Shaolin Monk Temple helping them fend off a people who act like Feudal samurai warriors. We should get going, before they convert her," Sola said as they exited. They began heading up the ramp, but as Sola walked up, Wolf pounced infront of her, giving a mechanical growl. He then turned and ran up a few meters, following close behind Caden. She shook her head and followed the group up into the ship. When she reached the bridge, she looked around and spotted the pilot. A smirk crossed her face and walked up behind him. She put her right hand on the right shoulder of his chair while leaning down over the left, so their heads were close together. "You the pilot?" She asked. "Uh, uhm, yes I am. Name's Wes, but most call me Jester. Who may you be?" He stuttered, looking at her. Sola looked him in the eye, smiling. "I'm Sola, the new girl. Mind if I punch a few coordinates in?" She asked. "Yeah. I mean no. I mean... be my guest." Jester replied nervously. Sola leaned in, a few assets moving very close to his head as she did so. She punched the coordinates in and leaned back, standing up. "Thanks." She said, smiling again. She removed his hat and ruffled his hair before walking back to Caden. "Uh, yeah, no problem." Jester aid, watching as she walked away. "Don't need to tell someone how to do anything, kid." Sola said to Caden as she arrived next to him. He smiled, shaking his head. "I saw that. Don't do it, the kid is impressionable." Caden joked. A grin crossed Sola's face and she left to head down to meet with the others, as she hadn't been able to visit them.